Floweycide - A Genocide Gone Wrong
by Wherever
Summary: He could always undo it. Flowey had believed in that fact with his whole being. Nothing he did was ever TRULY permanent. It wasn't like he couldn't load, right? Until, at the end of his latest genocide run, a human fell into the Underground…
1. Chapter 1: Boredom

He needed to do something.

Flowey had long since exhausted his options. He had exploited everything there was to do in the Underground, or at least everything that he found was worth exploiting, and after both killing and befriending everyone in countless different ways, there just wasn't anything left to do. So he had resigned himself to stand in the ruins and wait. If he stayed patient for long enough, something new was bound to happen.

But wandering aimlessly or tailing someone was far different than just standing in place. His every fibre itched with the need to do something, ANYTHING. Wandering in circles around the room had helped, but not for long.

As he resettled in his favored spot, the small patch of grass where sunlight reached him, a thought crossed his mind. Why not go loosen up by killing a few monsters? When he thought about it, he hadn't done what he had dubbed a 'Genocide Run' for a long time. It would help him unwind enough that he could keep waiting, and it wasn't like he would lose any of his progress. He saved and sunk into the ground with a quiet snicker of anticipation. This was going to be fun, or at least he hoped so.

First, all the monsters in the Ruins. Froggits and Whimsums, Vegetoids, Loox and Migosps. They all ran into his friendliness pellets, like the idiots they were. He barely even had to do anything, just smile endearingly and act cute. A waste of time.

More interesting was the old hag, the so-called guardian of the Ruins. Flowey decided to be extra cruel and do something he hadn't for a long time. He told her an old truth from countless timelines ago - that he was her son, having awoken in the shape of a flower, who had come to her in search of aid and comfort. As always she crouched down to wrap her arms around him and cry into his petals, sobbing phrases he had heard over and over. And as she pulled back to get a good, proper look at her long-lost child, she was impaled by a spiked vine. She was dust before she hit the ground. Flowey brushed some of the dust from his face - once upon a time, her split-second expression had been priceless. A rarity to behold, even for just a moment.

It wasn't the same anymore. Oh, well. Maybe the next area would be more fulfilling - after all, that was where his favourite toy lived.

Ice Caps, Chilldrakes, etcetera. A lot of annoying teens and dogs that weren't worth paying any mind, but he nevertheless searched out and killed every single one. The civilians in Snowdin Town had evacuated by the time he got there, as usual, leaving only one person behind. Unlike the Ruins, Flowey took his time with the 'End boss' of this area. He almost laughed at the absurdity of that description - Papyrus could be considered many things, but definitely not an 'End boss'.

As usual the idiot kept going on about how Flowey could be a better person, if he just tried hard enough. He was Papyrus's friend, after all. Flowey didn't bother explaining why he was literally incapable of just that - he had done so in some of his earlier genocides, and well, the end result was always the same. Flowey chipped away at Papyrus slowly with deliberately weak attacks, fracturing or breaking single bones, hoping that maybe THIS time would be the one where Sans got off his lazy ass and tried to protect his brother. Or where Papyrus would have enough of the slow torture and snap, attack him, renounce him, hate him. Where the script would change.

Unfortunately, it didn't. The naive idiot died alone again, that irritating smile still on his face, saying one last time how he knew the flower could do better than this. It frustrated him how even his favourite toy had stopped being fun. He had thought that just maybe, killing him as slowly as possible would bring forth some kind of amusement, something different from the other times he'd gone through this scenario, but no.

Oh well, at least there was one thing he was looking forward to.

The fight with Undyne was normally the best part of any genocide run. It was hard and challenging, and he was sure he would have to work for his win, but it wasn't impossible like some other fight he could think of. Maybe he could beat her on the first try, but if not, he didn't mind. The tingling, prickling sensation running through his body had stopped, so now he just wanted to see how far he could go. Humming a cute little tune he burrowed, off to the next part of this route.

It hadn't worked. It hadn't worked! Angrily seething, Flowey stabbed what was left of Undyne with his vines. He remembered it clearly, the last time he had fought Undyne the Undying, it had been fun. Not nearly as much as it had been the first time, but still!

And now? Nothing. The battle had been tedious, Flowey hadn't even realised just how perfectly he had memorized her attack patterns. He had not gotten hit once, what a bore! On top of that, he had to listen to her obnoxious heroic monologue again. And now he had to move on to Hotland, the area he hated the most. He was not in any way looking forward to this.

Alphys was long gone already, as usual, but Flowey had learned to take that as a given. No matter how much he searched he had never been able to find where she and all the civilians hid, but again, he was used to it. It just wasn't frustrating anymore, at least as long as he wasn't thinking about it.

Mettaton's fight was short, like always. Flowey really had no idea what this guys deal was, bragging about his 'human eradication' functions even though Flowey wasn't even human. Who did Mettaton want to impress with that anyway, when he must have known how weak he actually was? One bullet was enough to make him blow up and Flowey couldn't help but laugh at how pathetic it all was. So what if the laugh sounded forced? What if he had wanted, just once, to have a real fight with NEO?

The trek through New Home was hollow, a long corridor that held nothing to interact with and nobody to talk to but himself. But finally he reached the Judgement Hall, and the last part of this genocide run. The Sans part.

image

As soon as Flowey had surfaced and approached, the chubby skeleton started with his usual monologue. But Flowey didn't want to hear that, he didn't NEED to hear it. He had heard it so often he could, and once did, recite it completely from memory. He felt fairly sure that Sans was doing it on purpose just to annoy him. So after a few sentences, he cut the monologue off.

"Do I think I can be a better person if I just try, hm?" he laughed. "Boy, you know, that sounds an awful lot like your brother, you know, the brother you let die?" He changed his face to that of a pained looking Papyrus, complete with the skeleton's strained voice. "FLOWEY, I DON'T KNOW WHY YOU'RE DOING THIS, BUT I KNOW YOU CAN BE A BETTER PERSON! AND I CAN HELP YOU IF YOU WOULD JUST LET ME!" He snickered as he switched back to his usual innocent appearance. "You know, he didn't even cry for help once, must've known how unreliable you are."

Sans was silent, only staring at the flower with his usual big grin.

"Aww, aren't you going to say anything? Defend yourself, tell me why you didn't do anything to stop me?" Flowey tilted his head to the side, winking. "I mean, you're supposed to be the hero right? The one who stops the evil little flower from killing the king and stealing the six human souls you all worked so hard on gaining." His body swayed from side to side. "Too bad there isn't anyone left to celebrate once you did it, except the king. And you know that, that's why you're silent now. You let them all die even though you could have stopped me when I was weaker. But you didn't.~"

Sans still didn't answer. Flowey's voice became mocking. "Everyone is dead. Even if you kill me now, you and the King are going to be the only ones left." He wasn't going to mention the survivors that had gotten away because of Alphys, it'd dampen his message.

The short skeleton remained silent, his dark, empty eye sockets staring at the flower. Even though Flowey knew what he would have said, he felt a pang of irritation. If Sans would just say SOMETHING, he'd feel less like he was monologueing, even if he was. But if the skeleton wouldn't talk to him, well, he supposed that was fine. He knew one way to guarantee a reply.

"You know what the best part about all this is? It was boring. All your friends died and it didn't even manage to entertain me, what a pity." Flowey winked, sticking his tongue out. "But don't you worry, your friend Flowey will make everything right again. See, I can reset time, so I'm just going to go back to before I killed everyone."

That made Sans speak, just as he had expected. "…so, you're the anomaly."

"Bingo! Sure took you long to figure that one out." The flower snickered. "And that's why I'm not even going to try and fight you. I already know I can't win! But, at least we both know now what a piece of garbage you are. Really, leaving all of your friends to die like that. Well, who knows! Maybe you'll remember our little talk, and save them all next time?"

Flowey snickered again. "Kidding! I know you won't." And with that he loaded.

[LOAD failed]

"What."

[LOAD failed]

"Uh …" He stared ahead blankly for a moment.

[RESET failed]

"That's not …?" As reality sank in, Flowey lost his cool. "I can't reset!?"


	2. Chapter 2: Something New

It was something new. And for the first time in forever, Flowey didn't like it.

In fact, he hated it. For no apparent reason he had just lost his abilities, the only redeeming factors to his existence. How had this happened? What could possibly take away his powers? He was seething, trying again and again to load or reset or even save with no success.

"hey, uh, not to interrupt your little outburst there, but what do you mean you can't reset?"

Flowey raised his head sharply to glare at Sans, having forgotten the skeleton was still there and being not even close to in the mood for explaining. "What do you think, you idiot?! I can't go back!"

Sans stood still for a few moments, evidently letting that sink in as beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. "ah, heh, good one. ya really got me," he said with a nervous chuckle. Then he dropped his goofy voice in favor of a threatening one, staring right through the flower. "Reset. Now."

Flowey scowled deeply, face twisting into a grimace. Sans had to know his distress was genuine, with how good he was at reading faces, and yet he chose now to go into denial about it? "I can't! You stupid, idiotic trashbag! Do you really think I'd still be here if I could?!"

He had faked losing his powers before, in an earlier run, but genuine fear and worry and distress was very difficult to fake and Sans had seen through it. But now, the skeleton was attempting to catch him in a lie that he hadn't made, and as the flower's honesty became more and more apparent Sans's expression changed from threatening to concerned.

"so … that means …" The skeleton took a deep breath, not even finishing the sentence.

"We're stuck," Flowey confirmed.

He forced himself to calm down and think. Sans wasn't going to be any help - he never was - so cooperating on a solution wasn't possible. But maybe if he could find whatever had caused him to lose his powers, he could undo it and everything would be alright. He just had to figure out what it was.

"I'll go and see what I can do about this problem. You stay here and wallow in your own uselessness, okay buddy?" Flowey winked, putting up a calm and friendly and utterly fake demeanor, before burrowing. Maybe taunting Sans further was a bad idea - unwarranted, if nothing else - but it was his own little way to let off some steam. He didn't stay to keep track of whether the skeleton would actually wait or run off somewhere else to be useless, but he didn't care. He had to find out what had removed his powers, and soon.

Throughout New Home, nothing had changed.

Hotland, still nothing.

Waterfall, nothing.

Snowdin, nothing.

With each location Flowey became more and more upset. He had hoped to find this problem so he could get rid of it as soon as possible, but the possibility that nothing was different and his powers had just disappeared for no reason was becoming more and more difficult to ignore.

As Flowey popped out of the ground inside of Home, he tried to be as thorough as possible just in case. This was his last chance, and he had actually expected - nearly pleaded - that something would be different, but no. Throughout the ruins, everything was just the same as he'd left it, dust and red leaves.

Had he really just lost his ability for no reason? Had his determination somehow lost its potency? It was a terrifying thought, and he was trying his hardest to push it away when finally, near the end of his search, he ran into something new.

A human.

He couldn't help but stare. When he had surfaced he had just suddenly found himself facing a human, and a child at that. Several things clicked into place at the same time; this human had to be the reason why he couldn't use his powers anymore. Somehow, they had enough determination to override his. They must have fallen down the hole at the very end of the ruins, the dead end with the golden flowers. Despite all the time he had wasted searching every other area they had barely made any progress, so their fall was very recent.

image

Realizing that he was staring, Flowey perked up and put on his friendliest smile, already forming a plan. "Golly, that was a surprise! I didn't think there was anyone left around these parts!"

The child just watched him, confusion written across their face. They didn't look surprised so much as curious, crouching down to take a closer look (although, as their eyes were closed into thin slits, he wasn't sure if they were squinting or just naturally droopy-eyed).

"Oh, wait, how rude of me," the flower giggled, swaying on his stem. "Howdy! I'm Flowey, Flowey the flower." He really should have thought of a better name one of these resets, but whatever. 'Flowey' was almost endearing in its bland stupidity. "You're new to the Underground, aren'tcha? Golly, you must be so confused."

The child nodded. He again found himself wondering about this human, if they were mute or just a quiet type. Not that it mattered either way, their silence made things easier.

"Someone ought to teach you how things work around here," he chirped before looking around the dusty room, long since emptied out of its inhabitants. He avoided thinking about how this pitiful state of being might be permanent. "I guess little old me will have to do."

A light tap of a vine, and he could see the faint red glow of something in the child's chest. A cute, simple shape. "See that heart?" he asked, earning him another nod. "That is your soul, the very culmination of your being!"

Oh how he wished he could just take it right now and tear it out of the child's chest. He had already killed most of monsterkind and if he just had that soul he could take the other six. He could become a God.

Flowey gave the glow another tap. "Your soul starts off weak, but …" Explaining how to become stronger would be pointless. Only a handful of people were left alive, and he'd rather not have this kid killing them. The situation was bad enough as it was. "Well, there's not much you can do about that. But you should be careful! You see, down here, you fight with little white bullets like these."

He conjured up a handful of bullets and let them float in an arc over his head so the child could easily see them. The human looked awed, but thankfully had at least a smidge of self-restraint and didn't do anything stupid like trying to grab one. After a few moments of silence to make sure the child had gotten a good look, Flowey resumed his utterly pointless lesson. "But don't worry, attacks like this aren't hard to deal with at all. Just move around!" He paused. "You can move, right?"

The child nodded, standing up straight and taking a few steps to show. Flowey smiled brightly, as though the display of basic motor functions was anything to celebrate. "Great! Okay, so then let's practice dodging! I'll fire these bullets at your soul, and you'll dodge them, okay?"

Once again the human nodded, though this time Flowey caught a hint of hesitation. He snickered, bobbing a little on his stem. "You can trust me, no need to be afraid!" he assured. "Ready? Here we go!"

He didn't actually wait for the child to indicate their readiness before tossing the bullets toward them, but the attack was deliberately as slow and harmless as he could make it, so just by sidestepping once the human was able to dodge it. Flowey gave them a big, proud smile. "Great job!"

…

Yeah, he was tired of this ridiculous farce. He had shown he was nice and trustworthy and would make a great friend, yadda yadda, good enough. Lesson over.

"I'm glad we met! I've been really lonely," he said, putting on a frown. "This world used to be filled with monsters, but now almost none are left. They've all… er… gone away."

Good job, he mockingly told himself. Should have thought of a reason before starting that sentence.

Thankfully the child didn't ask further, instead frowning sympathetically and reaching out to pat Flowey's head. He allowed it despite the initial urge to swat their hand away, pretending to let the invasion of personal space comfort him. "Don't worry! I'm not lonely anymore, not when you're here. I can already tell we're gonna be best friends!"

At least until I can get the souls.


	3. Chapter 3: Leaving Home

"Just a little further, now."

Flowey turned to face the human, but they were nowhere to be seen. He sighed; several times he had to retrace his movements because of this child, and what was once annoying now just felt tiring.

A brief search later, he found the human leaning over a balcony. He pulled them back with a vine hooked onto their collar, but they squirmed and pointed out at the view expectantly. "Look!"

"I've seen those ruins many times before. It's really not much to look at, since everyone disappeared." He couldn't even remember the first time he looked out at the city of Home. It must have felt nice.

"No, look!" The child wasn't giving up, pulling free and leaning over the balcony once more. If he forced them to leave it might lead to bad blood down the line, so soon Flowey found himself settled atop the brick wall, overlooking the vacant ruins.

How many resets had it been since he last looked at Home? Now that he thought about it, he couldn't remember. He had certainly visited, but he had only paid attention to its residents.

Had he ever looked at Home after a genocide run? The abandoned streets were suffocatingly silent. Fragile, meticulously tended architecture stood empty, and warm light glowed in a few windows where monsters had until recently been living.

A morbid photograph of a dead civilization.

Flowey drank in the sight. It felt new. He didn't know if it was truly new or he had just forgotten it, but he felt something and that was enough for him. Only when the child got bored and begun to move away did he follow, and the two were again on their way.

The child's pace slowed as they saw the huge, dead tree on Toriel's lawn. Flowey went inside as he waited for them to catch up, and as he looked around the carefully cleaned foyer he realized something.

Aside from the small pile that had been his mother, the house was spotless. Even if he scattered her dust all over it wouldn't look natural, and if the human walked in on him he had no excuse. Quickly gathering the dust, he shoved it into the fireplace where it would mingle with the soot, then returned to the foyer just in time to see the human enter.

"There you are, friend!" he chimed, smiling blandly and swaying on his stem. "Welcome to my house!"

The child began to explore, none the wiser, and Flowey relaxed as he was left alone. He knew his "visitor" would be busy for a while, but he could keep an eye on them as long as they were in the house and that made it easier to consider what to do next.

In theory, he had a plan. He would take this child to Asgore, who would in turn reveal where he had hidden the other six human souls. He would have to; a human soul may be strong, but it would not last long outside of a container. If Asgore wanted to capture the human's soul without absorbing it - and he was too big a soft-hearted wimp to absorb it - then he would have to fight them where the soul containment unit was.

While Asgore was busy with the human, Flowey would steal the other six souls. With those, he would have his reset powers back. Then he would kill the child himself, gaining their seventh soul, and …

Well.

First things first. New Home was far away, and he had to account for any obstacles or interruptions that would crop up during their journey.

It took longer than he had thought; mapping out the optimal route, planning for any and every encounter along the way, engraving words and expressions into his mind, finding excuses and explanations for any questions he could be asked. But even when he was done, the human had not returned.

A brief search found them in the children's room Toriel had always kept prepared, sleeping. Flowey sighed, left them to rest, and started adjusting his plans for a human's needs.

image

"Flowey?"

"Oh, good morning!" Flowey cheerfully bobbed his head. "Did you have a nice nap?"

The human nodded. "Flowey … How do I get home?"

The flower paused, feigning surprise. He had expected something of the sorts. "Do you really want to go home? It might be dangerous."

Another nod. Flowey pretended to contemplate the matter. "Well… But… Okay! I've decided!" He straightened up, smiling wide. "I'll help you get home! But you have to stay close to me, alright?"

Given the child's agreement, Flowey begun to lead the way - down the basement stairs, and away from Home.

image

image

The shelter was warm and stuffy. Snowdin's entire rabbit population had consegrated into a pile of white fluff and gossip, the bar patrons were exchanging worried stories and jokes in an attempt to calm their nerves, and a jelly was distracting his two children from reality as best he could. Everyone was worried and stressed, despite Grillby's best attempts.

image

Somewhat away from the others, nestled atop a bar stool, sat a reptilian monster with no arms. He wasn't a Snowdin resident, but he had visited Snowdin often enough that people recognized him. "That monster kid" was what they called him. MK or Kid for short. He didn't mind the nickname much, and had even welcomed it, but…

He wasn't supposed to be here.

He should have followed his parents. Yet, he had wanted to see Undyne defeat that horrible thing that had hurt so many people and so he had snuck away, confident in his hero's ability to end any threat.

The thought made his stomach churn. Undyne was dead, and he saw it happen. It all felt like a bad dream and he didn't know how to wake up.

"Hey?" a tiny voice piped up beside him. He turned to see a baby rabbit leaned against the stool. "You don't look happy."

He smiled. It felt more like a grimace. "Well… Everything kinda stinks right now."

"Mom says to be extra nice to sad people." The bunny held out a hand. "Do you wanna play?"

Playing sounded nice. But before he could answer, something caught MK's attention. One of the bar patrons had just passed near the two, speaking into a phone in a hushed tone. The kind of voice only used when you really didn't want others to hear what you were talking about. He leaned closer, trying to listen in, but the conversation was too quiet to discern any words.

"Hey? Do you wanna play or not?" the bunny asked, nudging MK's leg. He glanced to her for just an instant.

"Hush! I'm trying to hear what he's talking about!"

He returned to listening, but it was no use. The bunny tilted her head to the side, then looked at the patron with her long ears perked, focusing just as hard for a good dozen seconds.

"He said there's a human," she whispered, wide-eyed.

A human! MK's heart skipped a beat. If the creature that had killed Undyne absorbed a human soul, then nothing would be able to stop it. It could break into the evacuation shelters, killing everyone, and even king Asgore wouldn't be able to do anything …

Unless someone else took the human soul first.

He jumped down from his stool, disregarding the baby bunny as he rushed out of the shelter. Undyne was gone, she couldn't defend them anymore, but someone had to do something and he wasn't going to let anyone else get hurt. If he did, it'd mean her sacrifice was in vain!

He got to the edge of Snowdin before tripping and faceplanting into the snow. Scrambling back up to a stand, he gathered his composure and repeated to himself what he had to do. He had to be a hero. He had to–

Someone was standing in the distance. Suddenly he felt a lot less heroic, but he couldn't back down. So, taking a deep breath, MK steeled himself for his first fateful encounter with a human.


End file.
